The Walkabouts

The Walkabouts

The Walkabouts in 2012
Background information
Origin Seattle, Washington, United States
Genres Indie rock, Alt-rock, Alt-country, Folk rock, Chamber pop, Slowcore
Years active 1984–2015
Labels Sub Pop, Virgin, Glitterhouse, PopLlama, Fire & Skill Recordings, Innerstate Records
Associated acts Chris & Carla, Midnight Choir, The Transmissionary Six, Willard Grant Conspiracy, The Bambi Molesters, Höst, Dirtmusic, Akis Boyatzis
Website www.thewalkabouts.com
Members Chris Eckman
Carla Torgerson
Michael Wells
Glenn Slater
Terri Moeller
Paul Austin
Past members Grant Eckman
Curt Eckman
Bruce Wirth
John Baker Saunders
Fred Chalenor
Joe Skyward
Brian Young

The Walkabouts were an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1984. The core members were vocalist Carla Torgerson and vocalist and songwriter Chris Eckman. Although the rest of the line-up changed occasionally, for most of the time the other members were Michael Wells, Glenn Slater and Terri Moeller.

The band drew inspiration from folk and country music, particularly Townes Van Zandt, Neil Young and Johnny Cash, but also from other types of artists and musical styles such as Scott Walker, Leonard Cohen, French chanson and Jacques Brel. Their sound was typically rich, with string arrangements and keyboards in addition to the standard rock instruments. In reviews the band's music was often described as melancholic or mellow, while Eckman's lyrics, concerning such themes as human relations, loneliness and restlessness, were often emphasized as poetic.

The Walkabouts achieved commercial success and a strong fanbase in Europe, where they did promotion and extensive touring since the early 1990s. They occasionally even made it high on the record charts in countries such as Greece and Norway.

History

Carla Torgerson and Chris Eckman met and began playing music together in 1983 while attending Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. In 1984 they moved to Seattle, and the band was born when they joined forces with Chris' two younger brothers, drummer Grant and bassist Curt. The Eckman brothers had been playing in various punk rock and pop groups during their college years, and Carla came from a folk and street singing background. The band took their name from Nicolas Roeg's cult film, Walkabout.[1]

They released their first EP, 22 Disasters, in early 1985. Curt Eckman then left the band, to be replaced by Michael Wells. Their second EP, Linda Evans/Cyclone, was released in 1987. The following year they released their first album, See Beautiful Rattlesnake Gardens, on the PopLlama label, before being signed by Sub Pop as that label's first non-grunge band. Adding keyboard player and multi-instrumentalist Glenn Slater, they released three albums on Sub Pop over the next few years - Cataract (1989), Rag & Bone (1990), and Scavenger (1991). They also toured extensively, particularly in Europe. In 1992 they left Sub Pop Seattle, but remained with Sub Pop Europe who issued three more albums, New West Motel (1993), Satisfied Mind (1993), and Setting the Woods on Fire (1994). Drummer Terri Moeller replaced Grant Eckman in 1992, when he left to care for his newborn son, Dakota Eckman.[2]

Satisfied Mind was their first of several albums largely or wholly comprising songs originally written and recorded by an eclectic variety of other artists, including Nick Cave, Charlie Rich, Johnny Rivers, Patti Smith, Mary Margaret O'Hara, and Gene Clark. Their 1996 collection of unreleased songs, Death Valley Days, also included songs by Neil Young, Nick Drake and Bob Dylan, and in 2000 they issued Train Leaves at Eight, which broadened the approach further by including songs by European artists including Mikis Theodorakis, Goran Bregović, Jacques Brel and Neu!.[2]

In 1995 the band signed with Virgin Records in Germany and released Devil's Road (1996) - recorded in part with the Warsaw Philharmonic - and Nighttown (1997), leading to new levels of success in Europe. The video for The Light Will Stay On, the lead single from Devil's Road was in heavy rotation on MTV Europe. Michael Wells left the band for several years in 1996, rejoining in 2003. In 1999 they moved to the German record label, Glitterhouse Records (the successor to Sub Pop Europe), and released Trail of Stars (1999), Train Leaves at Eight (2000), Ended Up a Stranger (2001), Slow Days with Nina (2003) - an EP tribute to Nina Simone - and Acetylene (2005).

In 2010 guitarist Paul Austin joined the band to begin work on a new album entitled Travels in the Dustland, released the following year.

In 2015 Eckman confirmed in an interview with Uncut magazine, and in a subsequent Facebook post, that The Walkabouts had disbanded.[3]

Side projects

Eckman and Torgerson have also released albums as side projects under the name "Chris & Carla" and as solo artists. Carla Torgerson has worked with Greek musician Akis Boyatzis and his band Sigmatropic on their album 16 Haiku & Other Stories (2001). Later Torgerson released a solo album Saint Stranger (2004) with help of Akis Boyatzis. Chris Eckman worked between 1996 and 2003 with Norwegian band Midnight Choir and teamed with Al DeLoner of Midnight Choir in electronica-project called "Höst" for an album The Damage Suite (2001). Also Eckman has worked in recent years with Willard Grant Conspiracy on the albums Regard the End and Let It Roll, as well as with The Bambi Molesters. Eckman is also a member of the trio Dirtmusic along with Chris Brokaw and Hugo Race and he has worked with the band Tamikrest from Mali. These two acts toured Europe as a double bill in the spring of 2010. Eckman has also worked with Tosca on projects including the song "John Lee Huber", and with Rupert Huber of Tosca] on the album "L/O/N/G".

Terri Moeller has also formed The Beltanes with Eric Alton, formerly of X-15, releasing one cassette EP, entitled Love Punks (1990), and The Transmissionary Six with Paul Austin, formerly of Willard Grant Conspiracy. She released a solo CD under the pseudonym Terri Tarantula in 2010.

Band member history

Name Playing Member period
Chris Eckman Vocals, guitar, piano 1984–2015
Carla Torgerson Vocals, guitar 1984–2015
Michael Wells Bass guitar 1985–1996; 2003–2015
Glenn Slater Keyboards, piano 1989–2015
Terri Moeller Drums, percussion 1991–1999; 2001–2015
Paul Austin Guitar 2011–2015
Grant Eckman Drums, percussion 1984–1991
Curt Eckman Bass 1984–1985
Bruce Wirth Violin, Lap steel, mandolin, vibes 1991–1994
John Baker Saunders Bass guitar 1996–1999
Fred Chalenor Bass guitar 1999
Joe Skyward Bass guitar 2000
Brian Young drums 2000

Timeline

Discography

EPs

Studio albums

Compilations

DVDs

Singles

Year of Release Title Comment
1987 Linda Evans/Cyclone Necessity Records - produced by Bruce Calder, Tony Kroes & the Walkabouts
1991 Where the Deep Water Goes
1992 Dead Man Rise
1993 Jack Candy
1993 Your Hope Shines
1994 Good Luck Morning
1996 The Light Will Stay On
1996 All for This
1997 Lift Your Burdens Up Not official released
1997 Immaculate Not official released
1999 Drown
2005 Devil in the Details Adopted by Jack Wolfskin for advertising

Official bootlegs

List of official bootlegs (sold at concerts) and mailorder only releases.

Year of Release Title Comment
1995 To Hell and Back - Live in Europe mailorder only (GRCD 356)
1997 Mystery Mountain Chronicles official bootleg
1999 Airmail official bootleg
2000 Bruxelles w/ the Nighttown Orchestra mailorder only (GRCD 505)
2002 I'm Sorry official bootleg
2003 Emona From the Italian music magazine, "Mucchio Extra"
2005 No You Won't official bootleg
2007 Prague mailorder only (GRCD 669)
2012 Reuters - Live 1996 & 2006 official bootleg

References

  1. ↑ "DustWeb". The Walkabouts. 2011-10-21. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  2. 1 2 The Stopping-Off Place: Unofficial Site for the Walkabouts
  3. ↑ "Chris Eckman's Facebook page". 2015-01-04. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
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